Adverts by Project Wonderful

Hey, adverts can be pretty annoying, right? I know how it is; I don't like it when I'm browsing a site and I accidentally trigger an awful flash ad where a big, freakish iPhone starts singing at me. That's why here on the Let's Play Archive we'll only ever serve up nice banners that behave properly.

The Archive is a personally-funded hobby, and without donation/advert revenue we won't be able to keep it going. Please, if you enjoy the site, consider adding us to your AdBlock whitelist—it really does make a difference.

Introduction

Amnesia: The Dark Descent, a first person survival horror. A game about immersion, discovery and living through a nightmare.

It puts you in the shoes of Daniel as he wakes up in a desolate castle, barely remembering anything about his past.

So, Amnesia... a game that has caused a lot of plumbing problems for a lot of people, and also considered one of the scariest games ever. Made by the same company that made the Penumbra series, this game is quite creepy, and has its share of "holy shit" moments. Its gameplay focuses on immersion, and for that we are presented with one of the best sound designs I've ever seen. Random noises, creepy music and dark ambients make this game what it is: a chilling experience.

For those of you who have never played the Penumbra games, Khad did an awesome LP of the trilogy, here's the link:Let's Play Penumbra Trilogy

Story
You are Daniel, a guy that woke up inside a castle and has amnesia. The story in this game is told by diaries (narrated in Daniel's voice), notes and flashbacks, which provide an interesting way to understand more of what the hell is going on.

The story is pretty generic, and the voice acting ranges from better than average to downright funny.

Gameplay
Our protagonist has two meters, health and sanity. Both of them have 5 states:
-Healthy
-Slightly Injured
-Injured
-Critical
-Dead

The sanity meter is something new. Whenever you see a paranormal event or even a monster, or stay in the dark, your sanity meter slowly depletes, and while it does that, your screen gets distorted with various effects for each state. When you reach Critical, the screen gets really blurry and your inputs are delayed. Once your sanity is completely depleted, random events happen: you can fall down with a piercing noise, the screen goes upside down, monsters appear, etc. The only way to improve your sanity is by solving puzzles or staying in lit up environments.

You also have no weapons. None. Never. That means you'll have to hide from monsters, avoid making noises and staying in the dark for as long as possible, because EVERYTHING that can kill you will do so with only 2 hits. This contributes more to the atmosphere of the game, of course.

The LP
Since this is a pretty atmospheric game, the LP will be subtitled. I try to break the tension with some humorous quotes, and I'll try to explain things as we move forward. Episodes aren't going to have more than 30 minutes, and i plan on updating every two weeks minimum.

Spoilers
If you really want to spoil something, please do so using spoiler bars. Don't ruin the entertainment of others by spoiling stuff.

Adverts by Project Wonderful

Hey, adverts can be pretty annoying, right? I know how it is; I don't like it when I'm browsing a site and I accidentally trigger an awful flash ad where a big, freakish iPhone starts singing at me. That's why here on the Let's Play Archive we'll only ever serve up nice banners that behave properly.

The Archive is a personally-funded hobby, and without donation/advert revenue we won't be able to keep it going. Please, if you enjoy the site, consider adding us to your AdBlock whitelist—it really does make a difference.